Sudanese American Community of Richmond (SACR)

The migration of Sudanese people to Richmond, VA started in the late 1980’s with a small number of groups coming to Richmond from other different states. During the last
two decades the number has increased gradually. In 2005 there were about 180 individuals and only about 37 families while currently the number is estimated to be
more than 400 individuals and about 150 families.

Due to the increasing numbers of Sudanese population in Richmond, the need to form a united entity to provide some services to its members had emerged; services such as
collective breakfast (Iftar) in Ramadan and the celebration of social, national and religious events as well as providing some educational services for the children, interaction and communication with the formal government entities and local communities as well as other activities of interest to the community as a whole.

There have been several attempts to form a Sudanese official community association in Richmond since the early 1990s, and some informal and unofficial groups has played that temporarily role, but the official birth date of the current Sudanese American Community of Richmond (SACR) was May 2005.

Since its foundation SACR has played a vital role in uniting the Sudanese community (in good and bad); which forced the bonds of social cohesion, solidarity and social interconnection among the community.
SACR also has been very active in celebrating various occasions, especially the religious, social and national occasions, managing the Sudanese school for the kids on Sundays as well as standing with those who need support and assistance. In the past SACR was also able to provide IT training to its members.

What distinguishes the Sudanese community in the city of Richmond is the social solidarity and harmony between its members which created a climate of friendship and of fraternity. Rarely will you find a member of the Sudanese community in Richmond does not know all other Sudanese people, for which this is almost distinct from all other cities in the United States.

This year the Sudanese American Football Federation has chosen the city of Richmond as the headquarters to set up a sport session organized annually and which also interspersed with multiple social and cultural activities that will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 5th to 6th September and there will be 11 soccer teams from different areas of the United States competing for a trophy.

At the end of the competition there will be a closing party where choirs from the community kids and adults will participate in addition to some known Sudanese singers who will also be recognized.

SACR is prepared for this big event and ready to receive its distinguished guests of the players and their families and individuals and high-profile well known players from Sudan, coming especially for this event, in addition to individuals coming from all over the US to attend this event.

We wish all the best for the organizers of this session in the Sudanese community of Richmond, hoping that SACR will set a good example for future sessions hosted by the Sudanese American Federation of Sudanese football.